Eel River Battlefield, War of Eighteen Twelve
Near Fort Wayne, Indiana
Along the Eel River here, the War of Eighteen Twelve reached deep into Miami country. After American forces broke the siege of nearby Fort Wayne, General William Henry Harrison ordered the destruction of every Native village within a two day march. He sent a column under Colonel James Simrall up the Eel River to burn the Eel River towns and the surrounding fields.
These were the homelands of the Miami people, including the band of the great war chief Little Turtle, who had been born along this same river in the late seventeen forties or early seventeen fifties. Little Turtle had once led Native forces to stunning victories over American armies, but in his final years he argued for peace. He died of gout earlier that same year, before these villages burned.
The campaign helped end organized Native resistance in this corner of Indiana.
